When fraternal twins Annie and Jack Breger are at San Benito High School, Annie is more than willing to give Jack a hug. After all, the two juniors are best friends and have a bond that many siblings would be envious of. Jack, of course, isn’t too big on hugs—not in the public eye anyway.
“At school and in the public, I try to play it cool of course,” Jack said. “At home I can’t deny it—we’re best friends and super close, so I’ll hug her then.”
Said Annie: “I think he wants to give me hugs more than I want to give him hugs when we’re at home. He’ll often come into a room I’m in and say, ‘Annie, give me a hug.’ He does that quite often.”
Perhaps it’s only appropriate that the Bregers have qualified for the same event—the long jump—in Friday’s Central Coast Section Track and Field Championship Finals at Gilroy High School. After all, they’ve grown up playing sports together and are each other’s biggest fans. Annie, who finished ninth in the CCS Finals a year ago, went 16 feet, 10 ½ inches in the CCS Semifinals last week to grab the last qualifying spot into this year’s finals.
Jack went 20-8 in the semifinals—good for 11th place—to earn his spot into Friday’s finals. Annie and Jack will be able to keep track of each other since the boys and girls long jump events are basically running concurrently—the boys event starts at 4:10 p.m. and the girls five minutes later—with the two runways parallel to each other.
That means there is an excellent chance the Bregers could be on their respective runways at the same time. Their parents, Beth and Sam, certainly hope so.
“That would be a pretty cool picture for them to take,” Jack said.
“They’d be excited for that,” Annie said.
For most of the season, Jack was known more for his exploits in the 100-meter dash. He has a personal-record of 11 seconds flat in the event, and went 11.14 in last week’s semis to just finish out of qualifying for the finals. Given the fact that he was recruited to do track this season for his jumping ability—Breger played volleyball in his freshman and sophomore years—it’s quite fitting he’ll be competing in the long jump finals.
Annie, who is a also a three-year varsity standout on the girls volleyball team, has been solid in all of the jumping events—high jump, long and triple jump—since her freshman season. Last year, Annie finished ninth in the CCS Finals in the long jump and 10th in the triple jump. Both will be hard-pressed for a top-three finish, so they’re focusing on personal-records (PRs).
Annie has a PR of 17 feet in the long jump—she accomplished that two weeks ago in the MBL Masters Meet—while Jack has a PR of 20-10 in the event. The latter mark was also set at the MBL Masters. See a trend here? The fraternal twins like to accomplish things in tow.
“We grew up doing the same things and having interest in the same sports,” Jack said. “It’s obviously super cool that we could both be in the CCS Finals in the same event at the same time.”
Said Annie: “We have extremely similar interests. We like the same music, and we’re both focused on our academics. Our personalities are very much alike.”
That includes both being fiercely protective of each other when it comes to who they’re dating. Annie’s boyfriend, Jason Lehman, is actually friends with Jack. In fact, the three of them have the same Spanish class.
“It’s funny watching them interact,” Annie said. “Sometimes it can be hilarious.”
Said Jack: “Jason is cool, man. I don’t mind him and Annie dating.”
The Bregers are proud of each other, wanting the other to excel and shine. When Jack ran the 100 meters in 11 seconds flat in the MBL Masters, Annie, who had just finished her final attempt in the triple jump, sprinted to the other side of the track to see her brother’s performance.
“I was so proud of him,” Annie said. “I don’t know if he knows, but I’m one of his biggest fans. I’m extremely proud of him for all he’s done and how far he’s grown. He’s accomplished so much, and I look forward to seeing what he does in the future.”
Like a number of twins, Annie and Jack can’t fathom what it’s going to be like being at a different school. That is a distinct possibility when they graduate next year, so they’ll relish every moment until then.
“It’s going to be extremely difficult if we go to different colleges, because we’ve been together all of our lives,” Annie said. “But we’ll always be close and have a great relationship. We’re always going to have that special bond.”
